South Africa overcome England to enter their maiden T20 WC final

South Africa secured their first-ever place in the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup by defeating England by six runs in the second semi-final on February 24 at Newlands, Cape Town. The second semi-final turned out to be a thrilling affair as the home side managed to defend the score of 164. England lost a cluster of wickets in the end as the Proteas set up a date with Australia on Sunday (26th February) in the final.

South Africa pull off an upset

After winning the toss, South Africa chose to bat first. Their openers, Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits, got off to a cautious start but eventually began scoring freely. Wolvaardt completed her half-century before being dismissed by Sophie Ecclestone, and Brits scored 68 off 55 balls. South Africa set a target of 164/4 in their allotted 20 overs.

England started strongly in their chase. Danielle Wyatt and Sophia Dunkley added 53 runs for the first wicket in just 31 balls. However, Shabnim Ismail and Ayabonga Khaka took crucial wickets to bring South Africa back into the game.

With 25 runs required from the last two overs, captain Heather Knight scored 12 runs in the penultimate over to keep England in the hunt. But Ismail defended 13 runs in the final over. She dismissed Knight on the third ball to secure victory for South Africa. Khaka was the pick of the bowlers, taking 4/29 in four overs, while Ismail picked up 3/27 in four overs.